WAID & DAREDEVIL Plot Farewell Road Trip to San Francisco

Writer Mark Waid has crafted quite a run with his work on Marvel’s Daredevil. But after October’s announcement that the series would be ending with February’s Daredevil #36, people assumed Waid’s time with the Man Without Fear would be over – but they’d be wrong. In February just after the conclusion of the Daredevil print series, Waid and his Irredeemable partner Peter Krause are taking Matt Murdock out for one last run (well, for now) – to San Francisco, in a weekly series titled Daredevil: Road Warrior that will premiere in Marvel’s digital Infinite format.

“It begins as a road trip for Daredevil and one of his supporting cast--but it very swiftly twists and turns into a high-stakes pursuit across the United States and a race against time,” Waid tells Newsarama.

When asked why Daredevil is heading to San Francisco after being well-known as a New Yorker, Waid is tight-lipped.

“I can't yet say without giving too much away,” the writer states. “It's something the creative team was discussing for a long time, and given the events of issue 36, it made perfect sense.”

This isn't the first time Matt Murdock has packed up and headed for San Francisco. Back in the 1970s during Gerry Conway’s run on Daredevil, Murdock moved to the City by the Bay to live with his then-love interest Black Widow. Waid will neither confirm nor deny any romantic tendencies are pulling Murdock from one side of the country to the other, but would say what it’s not.

“A weekly Infinite Comic about Matt seeking out America's Largest Ball of Tinfoil to take pictures would make for an awfully boring story, I'd think,” Waid says wryly. “There is definitely a menace at hand, one that takes Matt totally by surprise but whose presence sets the whole tale in motion.”

Waid said that “astute readers might guess” the reasoning for Murdock heading to California, but the real truth will only be revealed in the series itself. And as Daredevil: Road Warrior sees Daredevil returning to a city close to his heart, for this series Waid is re-teaming with an artistic collaborator he’s had a lot of success with in the past: Peter Krause. Waid said this has been a long time coming, and he’s glad to have Krause for his coda to his run on Daredevil.

“Honestly, I've been trying to find Peter some Daredevil work for the entire length of my run so far--it's his favorite Marvel character and Pete's a terrific creative partner,” Waid revealed. “But only this past summer, when we were discussing how natural a fit Daredevil would be for Infinite Comics (and their ability to showcase his powers in ways print can't) that we hit upon it.”

Waid brings up an aspect of Daredevil: Road Warrior that might be missed at first glance of the announcement; Daredevil’s unique powerset lends itself well to depictions in various mediums in addition to comics, and is something Marvel’s digital Infinite format could capitalize on.

“From the moment Joe Quesada and I first started discussing Infinite Comics two years ago, I said there were two Marvel heroes whose adventures would be perfectly suited to digital - Dr. Strange and Daredevil,” reveals Waid, who wrote Marvel’s first Infinite comic, Avengers Vs. X-Men Infinite back in April 2012, and runs the digital comics publishing company Thrillbent. “The ability working in digital lends to showcasing the bizarre, unusual ways in which both of them view the world - that was a big lure for me. Pete and I have already begun discussing the unique ways we can 'blend' radar sense with traditional storytelling to do something new. It's gonna be great!”